Browsing: Football

Navy goes west, Air Force goes blue and Army West Point goes … well, goes to West Point … as the college gridiron season enters the home stretch. What service academy football fans need to know this week: 1. The basics. Before launching into conference tiebreaker procedures, national rankings and a handful of what-if scenarios, here’s the slate for the coming weekend: Air Force (7-3, 5-1 Mountain West Conference) visits the blue field of Boise State (7-3, 4-2 MWC) on Friday night for an MWC Mountain Division showdown (9:30 p.m. Eastern, ESPN2). Army West Point (2-8) concludes its home schedule Saturday (noon…

For the first time this season, all three Commander in Chief’s Trophy contenders will play home games on the same day: Army West Point hosting Tulane at Michie Stadium, Air Force battling Utah State in Colorado Springs, and Navy facing Southern Methodist in Annapolis, the newly minted hip-hop capital of Maryland. Six things you should know about a home-cooked Saturday afternoon: 1. Navy and the CFP. After the Mids’ 45-20 upset win over Memphis last weekend, Navy found itself 20th in the College Football Playoff rankings, which will determine the four semifinalists that compete for the national championship and will set…

A day before one of the biggest weekends on the service academy football calendar, take in a trio of tidbits about the biggest weekend: 1. Spirit spot contest. Need tickets for this year’s game? Have a decent video camera? You might be covered. The game’s official spirit spot video contest launched late last month. You can submit your video to armynavyfootballgame@gmail.com; a Go Army and a Go Navy winner each will receive four tickets, four on-field passes and a parking pass for the Dec. 12 showdown in Philadelphia. Not familiar with the genre? Click on some of our reviews from last year’s spots. The…

The Black Knights and Falcons square off in Colorado Springs while the Midshipmen look to play spoiler on the national college football stage — here are six things you should know before Saturday’s service academy gridiron action kicks off: 1. Rivalry rout? Air Force (5-3, 4-1 Mountain West Conference) enters Saturday’s showdown with Army West Point (2-6) as a 17.5-point favorite and can become bowl-eligible with a victory. The Black Knights would need to win every game left on their regular-season slate to finish .500 and reach the postseason, and they’d have to start on the Falcons’ home turf (3:30 p.m.…

Service academy football kicks off at noon Saturday and won’t end until well past midnight on the East Coast. On tap: A rivalry renewed, a conference clash under the lights, and Blue Devils visiting West Point who aren’t hanging out with this guy, for a change. Six quick hits as the weekend nears: 1. A little respect. What do you get a significant other to mark your 88th anniversary? Matching Under Armour, apparently. Navy and Notre Dame will continue college football’s longest continuous intersectional (outside a conference) rivalry on Saturday in South Bend, Indiana (3:30 p.m. Eastern, NBC), and both teams will…

The Navy Midshipmen have won 13 straight games against Army West Point. They’ve won eight straight games against all foes dating back to last season, most recently defeating Air Force. And their head coach is winning at the pay window. Navy’s Ken Niumatalolo claimed top honors among academy rivals in USA Today’s recently released annual college coach salary survey, set to take home $1,637,803 in 2015. That puts him in 58th among top-tier NCAA football coaches, ahead of Air Force’s Troy Calhoun (73rd, $919,000) and Army’s Jeff Monken (75th, $883,000). The numbers come with the usual caveats: The Naval Academy…

The short version of this week’s service-academy football slate: Two schools square off to begin the quest for the Commander in Chief’s Trophy, and the other could play in front of more than 100,000 people. That get your attention? Here’s six quick hits before Saturday’s action kicks off: 1. Muddy track in Annapolis. Navy’s a six-point favorite hosting Air Force on what could be a soggy Saturday afternoon — nearby Maryland has already moved its Saturday game against Big Ten rival Michigan from 8 p.m. to noon to escape the damage that could be wrought by Hurricane Joaquin. No change yet to…

Five news bits for academy sports boosters, including a few updates to your fan calendar: 1. Army-PSU to “the U”: Army West Point’s Oct. 3 visit to Happy Valley to battle Penn State now has a time (noon Eastern) and a TV home (ESPNU). It already had a packed house: Penn State announced a sellout for Beaver Stadium, including more than 6,500 seats donated to service members, on Sept. 9. Army has lost its first three games by a combined 10 points and will visit Eastern Michigan this Saturday (6 p.m. Eastern, ESPN3) before heading to Happy Valley. Penn State sits at 2-1…

The Army West Point Black Knights will get a head start on their fellow service academies this year, opening their rebranded 2015 season against Fordham on Friday night at West Point. Fans who can’t attend the game in person can watch live on CBS Sports Network, which will air the home opener as well as every other home contest for the Black Knights this season (Get your schedule here). Can’t find CBSSN on your cable package? You might still be in luck. All football home games will be made available for free to service members with active dot-mil email accounts, the…

First, watch the video. Then, gather the appropriate Academy Awards nomination paperwork and ship it to Colorado Springs. Then, check below for some details: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqlKbd_cur8&feature=youtu.be For those who doubt the introductory graphics — and who could doubt something with that music behind it?— that’s really Air Force head football coach Troy Calhoun, belting out some slightly modified dialogue from “Casablanca,” a cinema classic that predates the Air Force Academy by about a dozen years. Not only is Humphrey Bogart on the sideline, but so is the booze — a sports drink fills in for a nice bit of product placement. And…